Happy Day of Pi

It's Pi Month!!! Really!!! What does that mean exactly, you ask? Well...it's a day where math junkies sit around and dwell on pi. No lie. For those of you math illiterate, pi=3.14159265 and is a Greek symbol, , for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

If you'll recall Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, you may remember that Mr. Daly needed to crack the combination of the tablet in which he races to find the Einstein bobbleheads and they give the obvious answer of the combination as pi and their nice bobble rendition of KC and the Sunshine band's "That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it" and now you're probably singin' that little diddy in your head. You're welcome.

The reason that Pi is celebrated this month is the date's representation of 3/14 (month/day combination) The first celebration was held in 1989 in San Francisco. And it's only fitting that most Pi celebrations involve eating pie.
Okay, okay, enough of the math talk, although I think my high school math teacher would appreciate my knowledge of pi....and my home economics teacher would appreciate my knowledge of pie!

So, why not celebrate both? Who doesn't love a good pie....especially when there are so many to choose from?

Here's a homemade Cherry Pi Pie recipe that is scrumptious!!


4 cups cherries, rinsed, stemmed and pitted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a mixing bowl, stir and let sit for at least 6 hours, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Drain off and reserve cherry syrup.

Combine a small amount of syrup to cornstarch to make a paste, then whisk cornstarch paste back into syrup. Pour mixture into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Stir in the drained cherries and almond extract.

Cool, and store in sterilized, airtight jars or freeze in heavy freezer bags. Makes about 5 cups.

Spoon pie filling into your favorite crust (freeze the rest) and bake at 350 degrees until crust is golden brown.

My daughter's homeroom teacher also happens to be the grade level math teacher, so she will get a special individual Cherry Pi Pie on Monday morning as will some other special math geeks :)

I hope you have a great Pi Celebration!! Enjoy!